Ada Lovelace | Serious Fun 2017 Spotlight

STEM, as most of you know, stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Ada Lovelace also stands for these things. A gifted mathematician, she is also considered to be the first ever computer programmer (the programming language Ada is named after her). She earned this distinction for her work on mathematician Charles Babbage’s general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Ada was the first to realize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and developed the first algorithm to be carried out by such a machine, establishing early on (we’re talking the 1800s here, people) that STEM wasn’t “just for the boys”.